Accomplishments

Spotlight on State Legislative Victories

The Justice Action Network (JAN) seeks a more effective and cost-efficient justice system. Our organization is the largest bipartisan network in the country to bring together progressive and conservative partners and employ federal and state-specific lobbying, public advocacy, and public education efforts to pass sweeping criminal justice reforms. In just a few years, we forged key relationships with governors, legislative leadership, and champions on both sides of the aisle, including law enforcement, business, civil rights, victims’ rights, and faith-based groups across the country.

Click on a state below to learn more about our successes.

The Justice Action Network is comprised of national and state partners spanning the ideological spectrum, all committed to seeing justice reform happen now.

Groundbreaking Moments

Women Unshackled: Policy Solutions to Address the Growth of Female Incarceration was a day-long forum that discussed the unique challenges women face in the justice system and the policy solutions needed to improve outcomes. The discussion featured prominent lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, including Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala D. Harris, and U.S. Reps. Mia Love, Doug Collins, and Sheila Jackson Lee, as well as notable female policy experts, impacted individuals, law enforcement and judges. Learn more.

Smart Justice: The All-Star Series: Ohio State University football legend Maurice Clarett joined Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Gary Mohr and The Buckeye Institute President Robert Alt, along with the Justice Action Network, for a discussion on how commonsense policies can keep communities safe and improve outcomes across the state.

The Google Summit on Justice Reform: Google, Justice Action Network, and the Coalition for Public Safety brought together the diverse voices of Governors and Senators from the north, south, east, and west to highlight successes on the state level and demonstrate the need for federal action on justice reform.

Impacting Federal Reforms

In 2015 and 2016, JAN worked with lawmakers in the Senate and in the House of Representatives to bring forth legislation aimed at tackling some of the most pressing issues within the federal criminal justice system.

JAN worked with a bipartisan group of Senators to develop the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, which would have reformed mandatory minimum sentences for certain low-level, non-violent drug offenses; given judges discretion on sentencing; and strengthened programs to reduce recidivism. In the House, JAN worked with bipartisan members to advance the Sentencing Reform Act of 2015 and the Corrections and Recidivism Reduction Act of 2016. These bills would have similarly reduced mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses; given judges discretion on sentencing; and strengthened programming in federal prisons.

In the 115th Congress, we continue to build on the growing support for sentencing and prison reforms on Capitol Hill. In addition, we are working at the federal level with members to advance various other bipartisan proposals like: the Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act, which would incentivize states to reform the use of money bail; the Renew Act of 2017, which would expand record sealing for certain non-violent, first-time drug possession offenses; and the Better Drive Act, which would break down barriers for people who have paid their debt to society.

Moving forward, we will continue to work with Republicans and Democrats on policies that will reduce recidivism and improve public safety. These common sense justice reforms are popular with the public, and that enthusiasm will continue to advance reforms at the state and federal level.

Influencing the 2016 Narrative

JAN and our partner organizations engaged both parties on the urgent need to safely reduce the prison population and help those leaving our justice system successfully rejoin their communities. As a result, smart justice reform policies were featured in both the Democratic and Republican party platforms, an unprecedented point of agreement across party lines. Click here to read more.